Category Archives: Coaching

I’ve noticed a theme in the lives of leaders I work with — most of whom are involved in church work: they are overwhelmed.

They are overwhelmed by the demands of church ministry, they are overwhelmed with the needs they encounter, and they are overwhelmed by the amount of information available to them. There is a virtual flood of ideas washing over them every week for how to do their work better, new conferences to go to, new programs to implement, and on and on. They struggle to manage their time, because there is a never-ending que of messages to respond to, emails to process, messages to prepare for, and problems to deal with.

To be clear: the issue of overwhelm is more than just about feeling busy.Busyness is not new … people have always felt busy. Remember that Henry David Thoreau felt so overwhelmed by the busyness of life that he needed to withdraw from the world and move into a cabin in the woods. He did this because life had become too hectic … and this was in the 1800s! This was before electricity, cars, planes, radio, television, the Internet, cell phones.

The problem of overwhelm in church ministry runs deeper than just full calendars and long to-do lists. This is a crucially important point, because if we misunderstand the problem, the solutions we try to solve it won’t work.

When it comes to pastors and other church leaders, I think there two bigger issues going on.

1. Overwhelming needs in the lives of people we serve

One is that leaders are faced with tremendous need and brokenness in the people they work with. It doesn’t matter what ministry setting we are in … we will find deep brokenness and dysfunction everywhere. We are as likely to encounter extreme sexual immorality in the sheltered rural community as we are in the city … drug abuse in the upper middle class community as in the working class community … relational brokenness and abuse in the suburb as in the urban core.

Learn how to deal with the conflicting expectations and overwhelming assault of Things That Must Be Done that is the challenge of all leaders today. This free webinar will introduce you to the key question to ask – and answer – and the spiritual habits that will help you deal with the challenges you face.

Leadership Communities…. What they are. How they work. And why they can help you.

In this informative free teleseminar, program director Mark Brouwer will talk about what the new “Leadership Community Groups” are. He will describe the program, and explain how the groups work, and why they are life-changing for leaders who participate.

These Leadership Community Groups will be starting in the Fall of 2013, and are built on the foundation of a series of pastor support and coaching groups that Mark Brouwer has been leading since 2008.

Note: this teleseminar has already taken place. You can get a recording of it for free! Sign up using the form at the link below:

CBS News ran a story on July 29 about the growing phenomenon of Life Coaching. Under the title “Life Coaches Are for Everyone,” they talk about the growing variety of life coaching niches, and about how people are being helped. It’s an upbeat article, and also contains a link to the story they ran on TV.

Here’s a link to a great general article about coaching by Leni Chauvin. I’m often asked about coaching, and am constantly on the lookout for metaphors to help people understand what I do, and how I can help them. (“It’s sort of like counselling, but not really.,” “It’s kind of like having consultant to help you with your own personal life challenges, with some important differences.” “It’s sort of like working with a personal trainer, in your own recovery,” etc., etc., etc.) I give up! Read this article!